


Knock Knock

by Marsalias



Series: Phic Phight 2020 [11]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, eating ghosts (offscreen), portal!Danny AU, vomiting ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23644237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marsalias/pseuds/Marsalias
Summary: The first mistake would be to assume that the situation was all bad. Portal!Danny AU.
Series: Phic Phight 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685794
Comments: 15
Kudos: 178
Collections: Phic Phight!





	Knock Knock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wastefulreverie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastefulreverie/gifts).



The first misconception would be that Danny's new situation was entirely unpleasant.

Make no mistake, it _was_ unpleasant. Mostly unpleasant. When a ghost forced its way through him, it hurt. It hurt a _lot_. Even without the pain, it was almost unbearable in a thousand ways. When it happened, he could feel the ghosts inside him, pushing against the back of his skin, winding around his organs, trying to find a way out, a way up, into the human world. He could feel them in his very soul, pushing and pushing, _burrowing,_ until they pushed through, turning Danny metaphysically inside-out in the process. He felt their claws, their teeth, their scales, their feathers, their hair, their thoughts, their feelings, _them,_ in a single overwhelming, overpowering burst.

Then there were the changes he had endured, the ones that affected him even when no ghosts were knocking on his internal 'door.' He was perpetually just a little bit dizzy. His sense of direction had taken a hit. He was always on edge, always waiting for the next ghost, the next time his body would abruptly become alien and inhuman.

But it wasn't _all_ bad.

.

Danny stopped eating halfway through dinner and carefully put his fork down. It clinked harshly against the table, arresting the rest of his family's attention.

"Is it a ghost?" asked Maddie.

Danny nodded once, tightly, jaw stiff, lips pressed together, as if so much as opening his mouth would send him to pieces. Even thinking the _word_ 'open' wracked his body with shivers. He clenched his jaw harder.

Maddie pushed away from the table and threw open the door to the lab. Jack scooped Danny up from his seat and carried him after Maddie. Jazz brought up the rear. Jack and Maddie had tried to get her to stay away before, but she wouldn't have it.

Danny didn't object to being carried. He had tried to make it downstairs on his own before, but results had been... mixed. And not in a good way.

The defunct portal set in the wall was covered with a sheet. One corner of the lab had been turned into a containment unit for Danny. Maddie opened the door to that and pulled the door open so Jack could set Danny on the cot pushed up against the wall. Maddie sealed them in.

Danny had argued against them being in the containment unit with him during one of these episodes, but they refused to let him be alone, even if it meant being exposed to dangerous ghosts and whatever Danny turned into once a ghost started getting into him.

"Okay, Danny," said Maddie, through the little PA system they had set up for the unit. It was her turn to man the exterior controls. "We've got the shields on and we're recording. We're ready whenever you are."

Danny groaned in response, finally releasing his hard-won control. The pain hit him, then. His eyes rolled back, and his spine arched as he reflexively tried to escape. Something made of buzzing electricity and hard-edged circuit boards began to insert itself into the interstices of his being, and he blanched. He hated, hated, hated having to deal with ghosts that dealt with electricity.

At the same time, it almost felt _good_ to let go, beneath all the pain and violation. It was a sort of tingle, in the back of his mind, like someone running their fingers up his spine. He changed, he was changed, reconfigured, and it felt good. He'd tried to explain to his parents, but he wasn't quite sure if they understood, not yet.

Electricity crackled over him, and the arc of his back became more profound. He screamed, whistle sharp, until something lodged itself in his throat, clawing upwards. The electricity stopped, and he rolled over, his body trying to expel the obstruction, even though it really didn't need to.

Earlier, they had tested this ghostly form of his, and they had found he could go well over ten minutes without breathing. That had some disturbing implications, but not ones that Danny felt obliged to contemplate.

Drool dripped off of his sharp teeth, leaving thick strings between his mouth and the floor. He always drooled so much during this part. He didn't understand why, but it was gross. His throat swelled as the ghost inside him tried to pull its way out. Danny's mouth stretch to compensate, as if it had turned to rubber. He could feel the ghost. It had hair, clothing, buttons catching on the inside of his esophagus.

Oh, jeez, this was a big one. Humanoid. He was trembling.

Jack rubbed his back in small circles, murmuring comforting words. Danny could barely hear him.

The ghost expanded from Danny's lips like a flower unfurling in fast forward, and suddenly Danny was _free_.

.

For every downside there was a trade-off. A silver lining.

He was always dizzy, but nothing made him any dizzier. His sense of direction was trash, but he seemed to make it where he wanted to go faster, even if his path didn't make any sense. He was always on edge, but he was so much more _aware_ of everything.

He might have been forced to deal with unreal levels of body horror and ghosts, but, well, _superpowers._

Flying was, quite literally, a dream come true, and when he was in this form essentially nothing could hurt him.

He was aware of certain mental changes that occurred when he was in this form. His parents and sister had worked together to quantify them. But they were much less than what his parents had feared, and they were so _freeing_. He could _think_ like this, _understand_ like this. Everything was so sharp and clear and focused. He had a purpose. A reason.

When he turned back, he didn't exactly _forget,_ but it became harder to _remember._ Human things, human thoughts and feelings and body got in the way.

.

Phantom gazed up at the ghost that had just emerged from his mouth with wide, curious eyes and idly licked at one of his fangs. His legs shimmered into a long, coiling tail underneath him, one end of which wrapped lovingly around his father's wrist, ready to pull him out of danger if necessary.

The ghost began to laugh. Phantom assessed him. A technology based ghost. Mad scientist vibes. Would probably try to mess with the stuff in the lab, except it was all ghost proofed and beyond the shield, anyway. Electricity-based attacks would be difficult, but not impossible, to deal with. Phantom didn't like electricity any more as a ghost than he did as a human.

But it was always possible that he wouldn't have to fight the ghost. Some ghosts were surprisingly peaceful, in a twist that had his parents revising their theories almost as much as Phantom's mere existence did.

So, Phantom waited. Waited for the laughter to stop.

"I, TECHNUS, HAVE FINALLY ESCAPED THE GHOST ZONE! NOW I AM FREE TO CONQUER THE WORLD WITH MY WONDERFUL TECHNOLOGY!"

Okay. Yeah. No.

Phantom stretched his jaw in a way that wouldn't be remotely possible if his bones and muscles weren't currently made of ectoplasm. He was more of an amoeba than anything else right now. He could suck things into his body at basically any point and shove them into the Ghost Zone.

But doing it with his mouth was always so much more satisfying. He licked his lips.

This guy was _so_ getting eaten.


End file.
